This invention relates generally to new and improved irrigation and suction apparatus for use during ventilating of a patient.
More particularly, the present invention is an improvement in the irrigation and suction apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,762 to Radford, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,344 to Palmer, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,561 to Russo. These patents disclose irrigation and suction apparatus for use during patient ventilation wherein the irrigation fluid is introduced, or injected typically under some pressure, into the apparatus and is directed simultaneously to both the trachea and lungs of the patient and to the exterior, and/or internal lumen, of the suction catheter to wash the catheter and to remove or dislodge any materials such as secretions or mucous from the patient's lungs which may have become lodged in the internal lumen of the catheter or lodged in the suction holes at the catheter's tip.
It is believed that it is more effective and therefore preferable for patient irrigation and catheter washing or flushing to introduce the irrigation fluid in one step of operation solely to the trachea and lungs of the patient and solely to the catheter in a second step of operation thereby assuring more positive flow of the irrigation fluid to the patient and catheter in separate steps of operation. Further, a problem associated with surgical suction apparatus of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,561 to Russo is that when the irrigation fluid is introduced or injected into the rear portion of the internal lumen of the suction catheter the irrigation fluid flushes or forces any material residing in the internal lumen, such as mucous, back into the patient's trachea and lungs which is undesirable.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the irrigation and suction apparatus art for apparatus which introduces the irrigation fluid in separate steps solely to the patient and solely to the catheter and which irrigation fluid is introduced to the catheter such that any material lodged in the internal lumen of the catheter, such as the above-noted mucous, is flushed away from the patient and not back into the patient's trachea and lungs.
A further problem associated with prior art irrigation and suction apparatus is the escape of ventilation gas from the apparatus in the direction of the catheter and in particular between the catheter and the apparatus surrounding the catheter and through which the catheter is slidably advanced and retracted to suction the patient. A solution to this escaping ventilation gas problem disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,792 to Radford is to surround the suction catheter with a conical seal, and the solution taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,561 to Russo is to surround the suction catheter with an O-ring. It is believed that a more effective sealing solution is to provide a normally closed one-way valve in the advancement path travelled by the catheter to suction the patient and which valve automatically fully closes when the suction catheter is withdrawn or retracted past the one-way valve after patient suctioning.